The Herald was correct when it demanded that the federal government fund the desperately needed Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant ocean outflow pipe (“We’ll say it again ­— fund the Bay Park pipe,” June 19-25).

This is something that I’ve been seeking for years — and the devastation suffered across Nassau County from Hurricane Sandy has sadly made the funding more in reach than ever before.

Shame on FEMA for denying billions in Sandy disaster recovery funds to build the outflow pipe. Our federal representatives didn’t fight hard enough for either our South Shore families or the environment.

While your editorial rightly pointed out that a pipe may or may not have prevented 100 million gallons of raw, untreated sewage from leaking into our Western Bays during the plant’s inoperability during Sandy, it will matter when New York state revises nitrogen release standards to a lower level. This

will only be achieved by the construction of a new plant altogether, or the building of an ocean outfall pipe.

We can no longer afford to pump over 70 million gallons of wastewater into Reynolds Channel each day. It’s negatively affecting our marine life and wetlands. The outdated technology from the Bay Park plant, built in 1949, is crying out for an ocean outfall pipe. The Herald rightly wrote that this pipe is “a matter of life or death,” and why the federal government needs to step in to partner with municipal, county and state governments in safeguarding the environmental, recreational and commercial integrity of our bays and waterways.

There are few of us who can agree more: “FEMA’s decision not to fund the pipe makes so little sense . . . if FEMA truly want to protect the South Shore against future storms, this project must — must — be part of the plan.”

Anthony J. Santino, CouncilmanTown of Hempstead

Thank you for lacrosse support

To the Editor:

This spring, Lynbrook’s boys’ varsity lacrosse team were Conference B2 champions during the regular season, and then went on to earn the Nassau County and Long Island Class B titles.